Showing posts with label Meghan Trainor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meghan Trainor. Show all posts

Sunday, February 2, 2025

Grammy: Best New Artist (1959-2024)

Grammy for Best New Artist:

1959-2024

The Grammy for Best New Artist was first awarded in 1959. The guidelines state it is “for a new artist who releases, during the eligibility year, the first recording which establishes the public identify of that artist.” Oddly, it does not necessarily mean the first release by the artist. For example, Shelby Lynne won in 2001 after releasing six albums over 13 years. Bon Iver was nominated in 2012 despite his first album, For Emma, Forever Ago, being released in 2007. Similarly, Esperanza Spalding hardly represents the class of 2011 since her debut album came out in 2006.

The award definitely doesn’t serve as much of an indicator of future success. As of 2012, there were more than 40 acts on the DMDB list of the top 100 of all time who were not even nominated. They include AC/DC, Aerosmith, The Beach Boys, The Bee Gees, David Bowie, Garth Brooks, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Neil Diamond, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, Four Tops, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, Billy Joel, John Lennon, Madonna, Bob Marley, Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Nirvana, Dolly Parton, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Pink Floyd, Prince, Queen, R.E.M., Kenny Rogers, Smokey Robinson, The Rolling Stones, Diana Ross, Santana, Simon & Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand, The Supremes, The Temptations, U2, The Who, Stevie Wonder, and Neil Young.

The Rolling Stones: Not worthy – so said the Grammys

Even when just those acts who were actually nominated are evaluated, the Grammys have a startling bad record of picking the act which would go on to have the most influence or success. To compare, I have listed the actual winners below as well as the nominee which ranks highest in Dave’s Music Database.

In addition, I’ve added the DMDB Act of the Year. It includes acts who were not nominated for Best New Artist (indicated with an asterisk) and references the first year the act released a single, EP, or album instead of the year the act may have been nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy. Those rankings are based on acts’ chart success, sales, awards, and appearances on best-of lists. Note: the years indicated below refer to the year of eligibility. The actual Grammys were awarded the following year.

See other best-of lists from publications/organizations.

Olivia Rodrigo on stage at the Grammys

2024:
2023:
2022:
2021:
2020:

Billie Eilish

2019:
2018:
2017:
2016:
2015:
2014:
2013:
2012:
2011:
2010:

Once again, the Grammys are confused by the meaning of the word “new.” 2011 winner Esperanza Spalding released her debut album in 2006.

2009:
2008:
2007:
2006:
2005:
2004:
2003:
2002:
2001:
2000:

2001 Best New Artist Shelby Lynne. First Album? 1989. Wait, huh?

1999:
1998:
1997:
1996:
1995:
1994:
1993:
1992:
1991:
1990:

Yup. Milli Vanilli won a Best New Artist Grammy. Nirvana wasn’t even nominated.

1989:
1988:
1987:
1986:
1985:
  • GRAMMY WINNER: Sade
  • HIGHEST-RATED NOMINEE: Aha
  • DMDB ACT OF THE YEAR: LL Cool J *
1984:
1983:
1982:
1981:
1980:

1977 winner: Starland Vocal Band – because everyone knows they were far more influential than, say, Boston or the Sex Pistols

1979:
1978:
1977:
1976:
1975:
1974:
1973:
1972:
1971:
1970:

The Beatles: one of the few cases when a deserving act was nominated and won

1969:
1968:
1967:
1966:
  • GRAMMY WINNER: no award given
  • HIGHEST-RATED NOMINEE: no award given
  • DMDB ACT OF THE YEAR: David Bowie *
1965:
1964:
1963:
1962:
1961:
1960:
1959:
  • GRAMMY WINNER: no award given
  • HIGHEST-RATED NOMINEE: no award given
  • DMDB ACT OF THE YEAR: The Isley Brothers *
1958:

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First posted 2/11/2012; last updated 2/2/2025.
 
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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The Top 50 Songs of 2014

Dave’s Music Database:

Top 50 Songs of 2014

These are the top 50 songs of the year based on their overall performance in Dave’s Music Database, which is determined by combining chart data, sales figures, streaming, video views, and aggregates from year-end lists.

Check out “Top Songs and Albums of the Year” lists here.

    DMDB Top 1%:

  1. Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk!”
  2. Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”
  3. Taylor Swift “Shake It Off”
  4. Meghan Trainor “All About That Bass”
  5. Taylor Swift “Blank Space”
  6. Sam Smith “Stay with Me”
  7. Iggy Azalea with Charli XCX “Fancy”
  8. OMI “Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn remix)”
  9. Maroon 5 “Sugar”

    DMDB Top 2%:

  10. Sia “Chandelier”

  11. Walk the Moon “Shut Up and Dance”
  12. Taylor Swift with Kendrick Lamar “Bad Blood”
  13. Fetty Wap “Trap Queen”
  14. Ariana Grande with Iggy Azalea “Problem”
  15. Jessie J with Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj “Bang Bang”
  16. Clean Bandit with Jess Glynne “Rather Be”

    DMDB Top 5%:

  17. The Weeknd “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)”
  18. Enrique Iglesias, Descemer Bueno, & Gente de Zona “Bailando”
  19. Ed Sheeran “Photograph”
  20. Sam Smith “I’m Not the Only One”

  21. Taylor Swift “Wildest Dreams”
  22. Calvin Harris “Summer”
  23. Taylor Swift “Style”
  24. Elle King “Ex’s and Oh’s”
  25. Maroon 5 “Animals”
  26. The Black Keys “Fever”
  27. Coldplay “A Sky Full of Stars”
  28. Maroon 5 “Maps”
  29. Sheppard “Geronimo”
  30. James Bay “Let It Go”

  31. Future Islands “Seasons (Waiting on You)”
  32. Iggy Azalea with Rita Ora “Black Widow”

    DMDB Top 10%:

  33. Ed Sheeran “Don’t”
  34. Nicki Minaj “Anaconda”
  35. Fall Out Boy “Centuries”
  36. Pitbull with Ne-Yo “Time of Our Lives”
  37. Charli XCX “Boom Clap”
  38. Ed Sheeran “Sing”
  39. Ariana Grande with Zedd “Break Free”
  40. Meghan Trainor “Lips Are Movin’”

  41. Jason Derulo with Snoop Dogg “Wiggle”
  42. Imagine Dragons “I Bet My Life”
  43. 5 Seconds of Summer “She Looks So Perfect”
  44. Nick Jonas “Jealous”
  45. Ariana Grande with the Weeknd “Love Me Harder”
  46. Big Sean & E-40 “I Don’t Fuck with You”
  47. Foo Fighters “Something from Nothing”
  48. Michael Jackson with Justin Timberlake “Love Never Felt So Good”
  49. Meghan Trainor “Dear Future Husband”
  50. Lillywood & the Prick with Robin Schulz “Prayer in C”

Resources/Related Links:

First posted 12/31/2014; last updated 1/18/2023.

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Saturday, November 8, 2014

“All About That Bass” logs 8th week at #1, gives Epic Records biggest hit

All About That Bass

Meghan Trainor

Writer(s): Meghan Trainor, Kevin Kadish (see lyrics here)

Released: June 30, 2014

First Charted: July 13, 2014

Peak: 18 US, 13 BA, 18 DG, 110 ST, 13 RR, 7 AC, 2 A40, 14 UK, 18 CN, 14 AU, 9 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 1.38 UK, 14.34 world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2694.03 video, 746.98 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Trainor was signed to a songwriting deal with the publisher Big Yellow Dog right out of high school. She was paired with Kevin Kadish, a producer who’d worked with Jason Mraz and Stacie Orrico. Kadish had the title “All About That Bass” written in his idea notebook, always envisioning it not as a song about “the low end of the audio spectrum” but about booty. He’d pictured a male hip-hop artist singing it, but Trainor, who often used the phrase “I’m all about that…,” loved it. SF They wrote the song in 40 minutes. WK

As she said, “It’s pretty clear I ain’t no size two.” SF She made it into a message about “confidence and positive body image.” SF Trainor said she struggled in high school with self image, WK although her “beautiful, popular, skinny friends had trouble finding a good dude” while she never had a problem. SF She told Entertainment Weekly she figured they’d never make any money off the song, but that she was fine with that. SF

Trainor and Kadish gave “Bass” a retro feel with, appropriately, an acoustic upright bass as well as backing vocals and a musical backdrop which harkened back to the sound of sixties girl groups. SF Still, while Trainor’s voice sounded like a single from 1963, she gave it a modern touch with lyrics not suited to that era and in a rap vein. SF When Kadish and Trainor shopped the song, labels suggested changes, such as adding synthesizer or AutoTune, to modernize it. WK However, when Epic Records’ chairman L.A. Reid heard the song, he signed her. Other than some mastering, he resisted the urge to tweak or remix, opting to leave the song intact and release it as her debut single. SF

It was one of several popular songs in 2014 (others being Colbie Caillat’s “Try” and John Legend’s “You & I”) to celebrate women’s natural beauty, possibly a reaction to the perceived misogynistic nature of lyrics on songs like Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” SF The Guardian’s Caroline Sullivan said the song had the “aura of a hard-won victory against self-doubt” WK and Yahoo! writer Paul Grein called it “one of the biggest and best ‘message songs of recent times.” WK The song topped the charts in 21 countries and was nominated for Grammys for Record and Song of the Year. WK It was the first single to enter the UK Top 40 based purely on streams. SF It became the only debut single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to spend 15 weeks in the top two and, with eight weeks at #1 in the U.S., became the biggest hit in the history of Epic Records. SF

Resources:

Last updated 8/15/2023.

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